In recent years, technology has advanced to a level that mobile computing devices, such as mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), and the like, are now capable of executing computer applications that were previously reserved for desktop computers, laptop computers, and other full-sized computing devices. In particular, the physical size of processors and memory has significantly reduced, while the processing power of processors and the storage capacity of memory have significantly increased. Many mobile computing devices are also capable of accessing remote networks over a local area network (“LAN”), the Internet, and other suitable network. Examples of computer applications that may be executed by mobile computing devices include web browser applications for surfing the web, office productivity applications for creating, viewing, and editing a variety of documents, and email applications for sending and receiving emails.
Even though mobile computing devices have increased processing power and memory capacity, certain limitations of mobile computing devices have remained relatively constant. To account for these limitations, software developers commonly design separate versions of computer applications for mobile computing devices and full-sized computing devices. One limitation of mobile computing devices is screen size. A typical full-sized computing device may include a display that is twelve inches (diagonally) or greater, while a typical mobile computing device may include a display that is three and half inches (diagonally) or smaller. With full-sized computing devices, computer applications can be designed with sophisticated graphical user interfaces that include a larger amount of text and interface elements (e.g., menus, frames, buttons, etc.). In contrast, with mobile computing devices, computer applications are usually designed with streamlined interfaces that include a reduced amount of text and interface elements. By reducing the amount of information displayed on the screen at any given time, the information can be presented at a size that is readable by most users.
Another limitation of mobile computing devices is the input interface. Many full-sized computing devices include at least a full-sized keyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse. The full-sized keyboard enables users to easily input large amounts of text, and the pointing device enables users to navigate the graphical user interface provided by a computer application. In contrast to full-sized computing devices, many mobile computing devices lack a full-sized keyboard and/or a pointing device. For example, some mobile computing devices include a reduced keyboard in which multiple keys on the full-sized keyboard are mapped to single keys on the reduced keyboard in order to reduce the total number of keys on the reduced keyboard. A single keystroke on a full-sized keyboard may correspond to a multiple keystroke combination on the reduced keyboard.
Instead of a pointing device, some mobile computing devices include a directional pad and selection button. The directional pad enables users to navigate up, down, left, and right across a graphical user interface, and the selection button enables to select portions of the graphical user interface that are selectable. While the directional pad and selection button provide a way to navigate the graphical user interface, the directional pad and selection button do not provide the ease of use provided by pointing devices, such as a mouse.
A number of computer applications provide a search interface and corresponding search engine enabling users to search for information in a variety of databases. In a conventional search interface, an exhaustive list of search results can be provided to users under the assumption that the users have access to a larger display and an adequate input device. However, such an approach is suboptimal for mobile computing devices with a smaller display and an inferior input device. In particular, the smaller screen size of mobile computing devices may restrict the number of search results that can be displayed at a given time. Further, the inferior input devices of many mobile computing devices increase the difficulty in which users can navigate through the exhaustive list.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.